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Internet top-level domain
The domain com is a top-level domain (TLD) in the Domain Name System (DNS) of the Internet. Created in the first group of Internet domains in March of 1985, its name is derived from the word commercial,[1] indicating its original intended purpose for subdomains registered by commercial organizations. Later, the domain opened for general purposes.
The domain was originally administered by the United States Department of Defense, but is today operated by Verisign, and remains under ultimate jurisdiction of U.S. law.[2][3][4] The .com domain is also more commonly used than the more specific .us by American businesses and enterprises.[5] Verisign registrations in the .com domain are processed via registrars accredited by ICANN. The registry accepts internationalized domain names.
The domain was one of the original TLDs of the Internet when the Domain Name System was implemented in January 1985, the others being edu, gov, mil, net, org, and int.[6] It has grown into the largest top-level domain,[7] and has lent its name to the dot-com bubble, the era of the late 1990s during which excessive speculation in Internet-related concepts and companies led to rapid growth in the use and adoption of the Internet.
The domain com was one of the first set of top-level domains when the Domain Name System was first implemented for the Internet on January 1, 1985.[8] The domain was administered by the U.S. Department of Defense, but the department contracted the domain maintenance to SRI International. SRI created DDN-NIC, also known as SRI-NIC, or simply the NIC (Network Information Center),[9] then accessible online with the domain name nic.ddn.mil. Beginning October 1, 1991, an operations contract was awarded to Government Systems Inc. (GSI), which sub-contracted it to Network Solutions Inc. (NSI).[10]
On January 1, 1993, the National Science Foundation assumed responsibility of maintenance, as com was primarily being used for non-defense interests. The NSF contracted operation to Network Solutions (NSI). In 1995, the NSF authorized NSI to begin charging registrants an annual fee for the first time since the domain's inception. Initially, the fee was US$50 (equivalent to $103 in 2024) per year, with US$35 going to NSI, and US$15 going to a government fund. New registrations had to pay for the first two years, making the new-domain registration fee US$100. In 1997, the United States Department of Commerce assumed authority over these first seven generic TLDs. It is currently operated by Verisign, which had acquired Network Solutions. Verisign later spun off Network Solutions' non-registry functions into a separate company that continues as a registrar. In the English language, the domain is often spelled with a leading period and commonly pronounced as dot-com, and has entered common parlance this way.
Although com domains were initially intended to designate commercial entities,[11] the domain has had no restrictions for eligible registrants since the mid-1990s. With the commercialization and popularization of the Internet, the domain was opened to the public and quickly became the most common top-level domain for websites, email, and networking. Many companies that flourished in the period from 1997 to 2001—the time known as the "dot-com bubble"—incorporated the label com into company names; these became known as dot-coms or dot-com companies. The introduction of domain biz in 2001, which was aimed at companies that failed to register a suitable com-domain name, intended to make customers realize that they had arrived at a legitimate business website, although it did not achieve widespread use.[12]
Although companies anywhere in the world can register com domains, many countries have a second-level domain with a similar purpose under their country code top-level domain (ccTLD), such as Australia (com.au), China (com.cn), Greece (com.gr), Israel (co.il), India (co.in), Indonesia (co.id), Japan (co.jp), Mexico (com.mx), Nepal (.com.np), Pakistan (.com.pk), South Korea (co.kr), Sri Lanka (com.lk), United Kingdom (co.uk), and Vietnam (.com.vn).
Many non-commercial sites and networks use com names to benefit from the perceived recognizability of a com domain. However, the registration statistics show varying popularity over the years.[7]
In December 2011, Verisign reported that approximately 100 million com domains were registered.[13] According to the Domain Name Industry Brief published in March 2020, which publishes every quarter, com domain registration totaled 145.4[14] million. As of March 2009, Verisign reported that 926 accredited registrars serve the domain.[13]
On November 29, 2012, the U.S. Department of Commerce approved the renewal of the com Registry Agreement between Verisign, Inc., and ICANN. Through this agreement, Verisign managed the com registry until November 30, 2018.[15]
List of oldest second-level domains[edit]The following are the 100 oldest still-existing registered com domains.[16]
Rank Creation date Domain name 1 March 15, 1985 symbolics.com 2 April 24, 1985 BBN.com 3 May 24, 1985 think.com 4 July 11, 1985 MCC.com 5 September 30, 1985 DEC.com 6 November 7, 1985 northrop.com 7 January 9, 1986 xerox.com 8 January 17, 1986 SRI.com 9 March 3, 1986 HP.com 10 March 5, 1986 bellcore.com 11 March 19, 1986 IBM.com 11 March 19, 1986 sun.com 13 March 25, 1986 intel.com 13 March 25, 1986 TI.com 15 April 25, 1986 ATT.com 16 May 8, 1986 GMR.com 16 May 8, 1986 tek.com 18 July 10, 1986 FMC.com 18 July 10, 1986 UB.com 20 August 5, 1986 bell-atl.com 20 August 5, 1986 GE.com 20 August 5, 1986 grebyn.com 20 August 5, 1986 ISC.com 20 August 5, 1986 NSC.com 20 August 5, 1986 stargate.com 26 September 2, 1986 Boeing.com 27 September 18, 1986 ITCorp.com 28 September 29, 1986 siemens.com 29 October 18, 1986 pyramid.com 30 October 27, 1986 alphaDC.com 30 October 27, 1986 BDM.com 30 October 27, 1986 fluke.com 30 October 27, 1986 inmet.com 30 October 27, 1986 kesmai.com 30 October 27, 1986 mentor.com 30 October 27, 1986 NEC.com 30 October 27, 1986 ray.com 30 October 27, 1986 rosemount.com 30 October 27, 1986 vortex.com 40 November 5, 1986 alcoa.com 40 November 5, 1986 GTE.com 42 November 17, 1986 adobe.com 42 November 17, 1986 AMD.com 42 November 17, 1986 DAS.com 42 November 17, 1986 data-IO.com 42 November 17, 1986 octopus.com 42 November 17, 1986 portal.com 42 November 17, 1986 teltone.com 49 December 11, 1986 3Com.com 49 December 11, 1986 amdahl.com Rank Creation date Domain name 49 December 11, 1986 CCUR.com 49 December 11, 1986 CI.com 49 December 11, 1986 convergent.com 49 December 11, 1986 DG.com 49 December 11, 1986 peregrine.com 49 December 11, 1986 quad.com 49 December 11, 1986 SQ.com 49 December 11, 1986 tandy.com 49 December 11, 1986 TTI.com 49 December 11, 1986 unisys.com 61 January 19, 1987 CGI.com 61 January 19, 1987 CTS.com 61 January 19, 1987 SPDCC.com 64 February 19, 1987 apple.com 65 March 4, 1987 NMA.com 65 March 4, 1987 prime.com 67 April 4, 1987 philips.com 68 April 23, 1987 datacube.com 68 April 23, 1987 KAI.com 68 April 23, 1987 TIC.com 68 April 23, 1987 vine.com 72 April 30, 1987 NCR.com 73 May 14, 1987 cisco.com 73 May 14, 1987 RDL.com 75 May 20, 1987 SLB.com 76 May 27, 1987 parcplace.com 76 May 27, 1987 UTC.com 78 June 26, 1987 IDE.com 79 July 9, 1987 TRW.com 80 July 13, 1987 unipress.com 81 July 27, 1987 dupont.com 81 July 27, 1987 lockheed.com 83 July 28, 1987 rosetta.com 84 August 18, 1987 toad.com 85 August 31, 1987 quick.com 86 September 3, 1987 allied.com 86 September 3, 1987 DSC.com 86 September 3, 1987 SCO.com 89 September 22, 1987 gene.com 89 September 22, 1987 KCCS.com 89 September 22, 1987 spectra.com 89 September 22, 1987 WLK.com 93 September 30, 1987 mentat.com 94 October 14, 1987 WYSE.com 95 November 2, 1987 CFG.com 96 November 9, 1987 marble.com 97 November 16, 1987 cayman.com 97 November 16, 1987 entity.com 99 November 24, 1987 KSR.com 100 November 30, 1987 NYNEXST.comCOM = Commercial, any commercial related domains meeting the second level requirements.
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